LETTERS TO ODESA RESIDENT MYKHAILO KOMAROV FROM ST. PETERSBURG, MOSCOW, KUBAN AND OTHER REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE OUTSIDE UKRAINE, AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT AT THE TURN OF THE ХIX AND XX CENTURIES

Abstract

Letters to the Odesa bibliographer, writer and public figure Mykhailo Komarov (1844-1913) from the collection of manuscript fund of the Odessa National Scientific Library are examined in the publication. The letters written by the authors from the lands outside Ukraine within its modern borders, but within the territory of the former Russian Empire, are analyzed. In particular, letters from St. Petersburg and Moscow, including letters of such famous scientists and cultural figures as D. Yavornytskyi, D. Mordovets, O. Lototskyi, P.Stebnytskyi and others are examined. Letters to M. Komarov from the Kuban, in particular from Ya. Bihdai, M. Dykariv, V. Skyda and others; from the Voronezh province from B.Poznanskyi; from Ryazan province from H.Machtet, from Moldova from K.Shram; from Siberia from A. Fisun and others are also analyzed. It is emphasized that the cooperation in the exchange of printed materials and the promotion of Ukrainian-language publications and Ukrainian studies publications in various regions of the country, despite censorship prohibitions were the important factors for communication between Ukrainian cultural figures at the turn of the XIX-th and XX-th centuries. The article contains the texts of fourteen letters to M. Komarov from thirteen persons from the different regions of the empire. The texts of these letters indicate that one of the leading topics in the publishing and other spheres of the cultural national Ukrainian movement in the Russian Empire of this period were the study and the popularization of the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks and its leaders. In the investigation the author makes the conclusion that it is necessary to publish as soon as possible, with appropriate comments, of all letters to M. Komarov from the manuscript fund of the Odessa National Scientific Library – about 1000 shits – to provide to wider range of researchers opportunities for comprehensive analysis of their content